Best places to visit in Romania: top cities, regions and sights

Match the place to the days you actually have. A 7-day trip that tries to reach Maramureș or the Delta spends most of its daylight in a car or on a slow train.

Nights below are the minimum that does the place justice, not a maximum.

Brașov is the easiest base in the country: a Saxon old town under Mount Tâmpa, with Bran Castle, Râșnov fortress and Peleș Castle at Sinaia all reachable as day trips by bus, train or a one-day hire car. Three nights lets you do the town and two of those trips without rushing.

Sibiu has the best squares in Romania, two good museums and the ASTRA open-air village museum; it is also the base for the fortified churches at Biertan and the Transfăgărășan road. Two nights is the minimum, three if you want the mountain road.

Sighișoara is a walled citadel on a hill with people still living inside it. One night inside the walls is the point; arrive by mid-afternoon and leave after breakfast.

Cluj-Napoca is the young, festival-heavy city of the west, with the Turda Salt Mine and the Apuseni mountains nearby. It works as a finish point because you can fly out of Cluj instead of backtracking to Bucharest.

Bucharest is where most flights land, and two nights covers the Palace of the Parliament, the Old Town, the Village Museum and the food scene. It is a working capital rather than a pretty one; treat it as a gateway with good restaurants, not as the highlight.

From Bucharest the train north to Brașov passes Sinaia, so you can break the journey at Peleș Castle without a car. South and east, Constanța and the Black Sea resorts (Mamaia, Vama Veche) are a summer-only add-on; outside June–September most of the coast is quiet.

Craiova, Pitești and Ploiești are useful stops rather than destinations on a short trip.

These three are the reason to come back for a second week. All are slow to reach and reward their own time.

Maramureș in the north is wooden churches, village life and the Merry Cemetery at Săpânța. Three nights, ideally with a car, and expect long drives between villages.

Bucovina, based at Suceava, holds the painted monasteries in green hills. Two nights is enough for three or four of them.

The Danube Delta is boats, pelicans and fishing villages, reached from Tulcea. Three nights, best in May and September; midsummer brings heat and mosquitoes.

Seven days is enough for Bucharest and southern Transylvania if you move by train and take one car day. Ten days lets you add Cluj and a village. Two weeks is the first length that makes Maramureș or the Delta sensible.

May to October is the main window for villages, hiking and the mountain roads. December is for Christmas markets in Sibiu, Brașov and Bucharest. July and August are hot in the cities and busy on the coast; late September is often the best balance of weather and crowds.

The Transfăgărășan is a summer road and closes with the first snow; check the opening before you plan a day around it.

Trains link Bucharest, Brașov, Sighișoara, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara, but they are slow and some routes need a change. A car is what unlocks villages, fortified churches and the mountain roads; hire it in Brașov or Cluj and drop it at the other end to avoid backtracking.

Book accommodation in Sighișoara and Viscri early for summer and December, when the small places fill. Carry some cash for village guesthouses and small restaurants; cards work in cities.

Romania is generally safe for travellers, with the usual city precautions around stations and night buses. Standard travel insurance is worth having for the mountain roads and any hiking.